The military of South Korea reported that North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles into the West Sea on Monday, just hours after the commencement of their annual joint military exercises with the US. Pyongyang has frequently seen these drills as a provocation. Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned against further “provocations” in response to the US deploying an aircraft carrier in South Korea.
The South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that the missiles were launched from North Korea’s Hwanghae province, marking North Korea’s fifth missile launch event this year. The ongoing South Korea-US military exercise, known as “Freedom Shield,” is set to last for 11 days.
The Freedom Shield command post exercise resumed after a brief pause following a military mishap in South Korea last week. During a warm-up drill last Thursday, two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area in Pocheon, near the North Korean border, injuring about 30 people, including two seriously. The jets fired eight MK-82 bombs in the incident, prompting an ongoing investigation by Seoul.
This is a developing news story and will be updated.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-fires-multiple-ballistic-missiles-seoul/a-71872629?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
